Tormented
by Jessica151294
Summary: Fighting a thousand wars, faced with a thousand difficulties, nursing a thousand scars, dealing with Pain a thousand times… When all seems to fall apart, can sanctuary be found? Can the pain be shared and can the hurt cease? No matter how strong, we all fall down sometimes…


**Just a one-shot written long time ago. I managed to find it in my archives so I decided to upload this little piece of work, I hope you enjoy this! This may include some Out Of Character-ness, just warning to be on the safe side! :)**

**Disclaimer: All rights of the characters (Lara Croft and Kurtis Trent) belong to Eidos, Core Design, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix. I also don't own the rights of the song used in this story.**

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**~ Dedicated to Josh14Raider whom I'd like to thank for encouraging me to upload this and for his great support. Thank you! :) ~**

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"Kurtis?"

"Yes?"

Pause.

"Do you ever dream of a peaceful world or do you try to avoid being unrealistic?"  
Pause again.

"Both"

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_Northern Slovakia, 00:31 A.M._

It was a cold, humid night in the deserted streets of Slovakia. The sense of action and adventure had already gone away. There was only the howl of the wind and the chilly cold of the mercilessly lonely night despite the fact that it was summer.

Two lonely souls had gone into a damaged, remote building to find sanctuary. They had accidentally got trapped and trying to find warmth from each other's body for the night was the best thing they could think of. She sat on the stairs of the building while her partner lay there, using her lap as a pillow. Adrenaline had already faded from their veins. She was caressing his messy hair to find a trail of comfort. Close to each other, feeling each other's heartbeat was enough to help them make it through the night. She closed her eyes, recalling the taste of his lips that were leaning against hers minutes earlier.

Numbness seemed to have drowned their souls. They felt like they were running but not moving. It was like they ran but they always ended up to a dead end. They were attacked by all sides and it was hard to defend themselves fully. Like the whole world was against them.

"I'm afraid", his weak voice echoed in her ears. She didn't utter a word.  
"I'm not afraid of demons, I never was. I'm not afraid of the devil. I'm afraid of human beings" he said bitterly. She kept on caressing his dark brown, messy hair while he was getting things off his chest.  
"You don't know what they're capable of. The worst thing mankind could ever create is war" he uttered bitterly and then lit up a cigarette. She didn't speak at all, just kept on caressing his hair.

"You don't know what it feels like; the instinct of survival. You have to kill an innocent child that doesn't understand what's really going on, that carries out orders of a god of death. You have to kill that child for the sake of your commanders, just because they have decided that this is how it has to be" he said bitterly and exhaled some smoke.  
"You keep on hearin' those screams of death and suffer you've caused throughout war. They're echoing violently in your ears, never let you sleep. They haunt you for the rest of your life" he went on as he kept on smoking his cigarette.  
"It's not the spirits of the innocent people you've killed, it's the guilt their death has caused. But what hurts more is betrayal. It makes you wanna be heartless, cold, merciless. But sometimes you just can't become a monster" he paused for a while.

"Betrayal hurts really bad, Lara, so you defend yourself. You become tough and inexpressive. But you hide something else inside, something that no one is allowed to see, something more meaningful and humane… And you never let it show".  
He paused for a while to light up his cigarette again as it had been put out from the cold and humid wind. Then he went on.

"I always feel like I'm the anonymous one, the stranger that no one would ever notice. Always the intruder, the freak". He paused again. He found it hard to go on but it was the first time he had actually found someone to share his pain with and at that dark time he needed that more than ever.

"Sometimes I wonder what made you search for me, why you didn't let me bleed to death" he said and the put out his cigarette and kept on staring at the void. His last words brought a slight but piercing pain in her heart. She didn't want him to regret the moment he was saved from Prague. She never knew he felt the way he had just described to her. She felt pity for him. She wanted to relieve all of his pain, take it all away.

"I'm so sorry" was the only thing she could pronounce to make him feel better.  
"I don't want you to feel sorry for me" he argued.  
"I don't want pity. This is my burden to carry, not yours. You have your own problems to deal with" he said.  
"You're right" she told him, "But you don't have to do this alone anymore. I'm here, with you".

There was something that had become the tormenter of her mind and she had to let it go.  
"I'm sick of carrying the burden of solitude. I'm tired of being alone, of being considered the…" she couldn't complete her sentence.  
"…the one that everyone can rely on. Everybody's saviour, everybody's fool" he finished the sentence for her.  
"Yes" she agreed with bitterness.

She lay too, leaning on his chest and resting her head there. As they lay there in silence, they could both hear a song playing background. Someone had obviously turned the volume on and the song could be heard through the walls of the pathetic building.

Damien Rice began to sing:  
«I pack my suit in a bag  
I'm all dressed up for Prague  
I'm all dressed up with you  
All dressed up for him too»

The reference of the particular city sent chills down their spines. They both tried to come closer to each other's body as they were caressing each other's hair.

«Prepare myself for a war  
Before I even open up my door  
Before I even look out  
I'm pissing all of my bullets about»

They closed their eyes in numbness as the song continued.

«Wrap myself in a bag  
I'm all wrapped up in Prague  
I'm all wrapped up in you  
I'm all wrapped up in him too»

The lyrics of the song became more meaningful to their ears now.

«Prepare myself for a war  
And I don't know what I'm doing this for  
Trying to let it all go  
But how can I when you still don't know?»

Neither of them spoke a single word. They just listened to the song in complete silence.

«I could wait for you  
Like that hole in your boot  
Waiting to be fixed  
I could wait for you  
What good would that do  
But to leave me bruised?»

It felt like the song was written for them. They recalled the emotions their first arrival in Prague brought. Coldness, uncertainty and fear for what was lying ahead. The sense of the snow flakes falling upon their skin. Entering the fortress of obscurity. His blood on the metal floor. Pain, pain, so much unbearable pain.  
_'Another cold, dark city. Great!'_ she recalled herself saying as she arrived to Prague.

«Cheers darlin'  
Here's to you and your lover

Darling

I got years»

She recalled the moment she found him in the dark pit of the mutant he had fought earlier. His head resting on her lap, his warm blood on her hands, the hot tears flowing on her cheeks. The anxiety she felt while she was transporting him to the hospital, trying to get away from their predators, her impatience as she waited for the doctors, them saying that he's unlikely to survive, the wave of anguish in her chest, her heart beating really fast; and she barely knew him. He was a stranger but she knew she loved him anyway. She had told him that night.

_"Kurtis, I love you"._

He never remembered these words being uttered by her mouth that night.

«Pack my suit in a bag  
All dressed up for Prague  
Pack my suit in a bag  
All dressed up for Prague  
Pack my suit in a bag  
All dressed up for Prague  
Pack my suit in a bag  
All dressed up for  
All dressed up for  
All dressed up for»

The song ended.  
_How could this happen to us?_ she thought to herself. She felt a need to make things seem better.  
"It's going to be better tomorrow" she whispered even though she didn't believe a single word of hers but neither did he. They closed their eyes in search of peace and sanity.

_I love you, Lara_ he thought but he never whispered such words to her that cold, dark night.

The coldness of the night grew wilder and the temperature became lower but there was no place to run, no place they could call 'home'. They just lay there, wishing for the next day to come fast, hoping that the sun wouldn't forget to bring rays down on them.

He was caressing her long, soft hair until she stopped caressing his. She had fallen into a lethargic sleep, his heartbeat the sweetest lullaby for her. After a while, he let the veil of unconsciousness cover him and lead him to a dreamland where he could feel warmth in his tormented soul despite the coldness of the cruel world of reality, silently wishing that his last hope of temporary peace wouldn't die by the hands of the monsters that his nightmares had created…

**THE END**

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**A/N: The song is called "All Dressed Up (Prague)", sung by Damien Rice and it was my inspiration for this one-shot! I was also inspired by Kurtis' story, especially the part when he served the Foreign Legion!**

**Reviews are much appreciated!**


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